The History of the Olympics:
1912 - Stockholm, SwedenThe 1912 Olympics at Stockholm were known as the "Swedish Masterpiece" because they were so well organized. Avery Brundage, IOC president from 1952 to 1972, described these Games: "The efficiency and almost mathematical precision with which the events were handled and the formal correctness of the arrangements made a great impression on me."*
The Games also benefited from the use of electric timing devices and a public address system which were first used at these Olympic Games.
Jim Thorpe and Hannes Kolehmainen made a big impression during the 1912 Olympics. Jim Thorpe, a Native American from the U.S., overwhelmingly won both the pentathlon and the decathlon - an amazing feat. King Gustav said to Thorpe, "You, sir, are the greatest athlete in the world." Thorpe answered, "Thanks, King." Finland's Hannes Kolehmainen, one of the "Flying Finns," won three gold medals from the 5,000-meter race (made world record time), the 10,000-meter race, and the 8,000-meter cross-country run.
Approximately 2,500 athletes attended these Games, representing 28 countries.
* Avery Brundage as quote in Allen Guttmann, The Olympics: A History of the Modern Games (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1992) 32.
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| Histories of the Olympic Games |
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1896 - Athens 1900 - Paris 1904 - St. Louis 1906 - Athens ("Unoffficial") 1908 - London 1912 - Stockholm 1916 - Not held 1920 - Antwerp 1924 - Paris 1928 - Amsterdam 1932 - Los Angeles 1936 - Berlin 1940 - Not held 1944 - Not held |
1948 - London 1952 - Helsinki 1956 - Melbourne 1960 - Rome 1964 - Tokyo 1968 - Mexico City 1972 - Munich 1976 - Montreal 1980 - Moscow 1984 - Los Angeles 1988 - Seoul 1992 - Barcelona 1996 - Atlanta 2000 - Sydney |
